Introducing: Sheet Music Videos with Notation, TABs and More

In the old days, to hear a piece of music you had to hear someone play it in person or play it yourself. You had to go to a concert, or be a good enough sight-reader to work your way through it.

Now, we have Youtube, Spotify, and a thousand other means to listen to whatever we want whenever we want.

And to add to the online resources for exploring music, the CGS team has been creating some new videos. These feature classical guitar sheet music and midi audio.

Introducing: Classical Guitar Sheet Music Videos

Besides the Free Guitar Sheet Music library, you can now find videos. These videos have sheet music scrolling while music plays. They live in a dedicated Youtube playlist. And each video is also on the page for the sheet music it contains.

For all videos, there is free sheet music and TAB available for download.

These videos are for previewing potential musical projects, as well as to help in learning specific pieces.

Some videos feature the standard notation with the harmony (chords) written below. Others feature the standard music notation combined with TABs (guitar tablature). Each offer benefits and opportunities.

How to Use Sheet Music Videos with Chords

To use the sheet music videos with chords to learn a piece of music, you can notice the underlying chords for each measure. This aids in “theoretical memory”. The more elements of the music we understand and recognize, the easier it is to recall.

To use the sheet music videos to practice changing chords, you can play along with the video.

Here’s how:

To begin, aim to play the new chord on the first beat of each measure (or wherever the chord appears in the measure). Take the rest of each measure to get to the new chord so you can play it on time. As you become more comfortable, you can strum more times per bar, or add a strumming pattern.

You can also use the sheet music videos to help get used to playing with other people. When we first play with other people, it’s easy to get distracted and make more errors than usual. Playing strummed chords or arpeggio patterns along to the sheet music videos helps to train focus and comfort. This can also aid in your abilities to listen to something else while continuing to play in rhythm and keep your place in the music.

Sheet Music Videos with TABs

Many of the sheet music videos contain standard musical notation and TABs. TABs show us where on the guitar to put our fingers. TAB is a tool, and as with any tool, requires caution.

How to Use Sheet Music Videos with TABs

To use the sheet music videos with TABs, you can:

pause the video to check your fingerings for specific passages (recognizing the the TAB fingerings are only one option among many)

preview the range of notes used on the guitar before beginning a piece

Do an initial play-through of a piece using TAB before deciding to learn the piece using the notation. This can be helpful if you learned TAB before learning to read standard musical notation.

In any other way you choose

How to Use the Youtube Video Speed Controls to Slow Down Videos

Youtube has a built-in feature that allows you to slow down or speed up videos. You can find this in the gear-shaped icon in the video player.

At the bottom right of a Youtube video, click the Gear icon.

Next, choose “Speed”.

Finally, choose your speed, faster or slower.

While Youtube does a fair job of maintaining the pitch at the different speeds, the audio quality will suffer at the slower speeds.

About Allen Mathews

Allen Mathews learned guitar as an adult, and has been a full-time guitar teacher for almost two decades to students age 4 to 96. He has taught classical guitar at Reed College and Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and has been a guest lecturer and clinician at schools and universities throughout the U.S. Allen is often praised for his creative teaching abilities, and his dedication to helping adults learn classical guitar. He has a popular Youtube Channel offering regular classical guitar tutorials, and has gained fans worldwide for his weekly emails and articles at ClassicalGuitarShed.com.

Thanks to you (you are my only teacher) in only a few months I've gone from very basic beginner pieces to having just completed learning Bach's Gavottes 1&2 in good form and execution. As a non-classical electric guitarist who has always used a pick and never his fingers, this has been no small feat!

-Gregg Olson

Hi Allen, I am thoroughly enjoying your website and I find it is just what I need in my renewed passion for classical guitar. I have rediscovered a great love for this instrument and the music I can learn and play and it has changed my life for the better dramatically! Thank you facilitating this process.

-George Rogers

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